The student list “Students Win” has won 140 of the 250 seats in Serbia’s parliament, the Republican Electoral Commission announced after adopting the final report on the early parliamentary elections. The vote was held on October 25, and was repeated in 53 polling stations on November 1.
The list received 2,354,417 votes, or 53.01% of valid ballots. Its result gives it an absolute majority, as 126 MPs are needed to control the 250-seat National Assembly.
In second place is the “Aleksandar Vučić – United Serbia” list, with 1,731,323 votes and 103 seats. The remaining seven seats are divided among lists representing national minorities. The Alliance of Hungarians in Vojvodina and the Albanian Coalition receive two MPs each, while the lists of Rasim Ljajić, SDA Sandžak and Usame Zukorlić receive one each.
Voter turnout reached 68.9%
A total of 4,444,310 voters out of 6,451,292 registered citizens took part in the elections. There were 4,441,636 ballots cast, of which 4,385,065 were deemed valid.
The Socialist Party of Serbia, as well as the other lists that do not represent national minorities, failed to clear the required threshold for participation in the allocation of seats. The Socialists received 2.13% of the vote.
End of Vučić’s party’s 14-year rule
The result changes the balance of power after nearly 14 years of dominance by the Serbian Progressive Party and the political camp surrounding Aleksandar Vučić. On election night, Vučić acknowledged the defeat of his list and said that the student movement had won the vote. Later, he accused his opponents of “revolutionary terror.”
The student movement organized protests for two years. They began after a canopy collapsed at the railway station in Novi Sad in November 2024, killing 16 people. The protesters demanded accountability for the tragedy, the rule of law and curbs on corruption.
The candidates on the Student List are mostly academics, teachers and specialists with no significant political experience. The movement promised to restore the rule of law and end corrupt practices that, in its view, had grown under Vučić’s rule.
Constitution of the new parliament next
Following the announcement of the final results, the electoral commission must allocate the seats among the individual candidates according to their order on the lists and issue certificates of election. The first sitting of the new National Assembly must be held no later than 30 days after the results are announced, that is, by December 5.
Once the parliament is constituted, the deadline for forming a new government begins to run. If a cabinet is not elected within 90 days, the National Assembly is dissolved.
Sources: apnews.com, n1info.rs, snm.rs